MEXICA: A computer model of a cognitive account of creative writing

MEXICA is a computer model that produces frameworks for short stories based on the engagement-reflection cognitive account of writing. During engagement MEXICA generates material guided by content and rhetorical constraints, avoiding the use of explicit goals or story-structure information. During reflection the system breaks impasses, evaluates the novelty and interestingness of the story in progress and verifies that coherence requirements are satisfied. In this way, MEXICA complements and extends those models of computerised story-telling based on traditional problem-solving techniques where explicit goals drive the generation of stories. This paper describes the engagement-reflection account of writing, the general characteristics of MEXICA and reports an evaluation of the program.     

Wheels,skills and thrills: A social marketing trial to reduce aggressive driving from young men in deprived areas

Young men from poorer backgrounds are associated with high road traffic collision levels. However, solving this problem has proven very difficult. Hence this paper summarises the findings of a UK government funded two-year trial of a cross-discipline intervention to reduce aggressive driving amongst this group.     

A decision-making system for construction site layout planning

A decision-making system, which consists of input, design, evaluation and selection, and output stages, is proposed to solve dynamic, multi-objective and unequal-area construction site layout planning (CSLP) problem. In the input stage, the multiple objectives, schedule planning and site condition are determined. In the design stage, two mathematical optimization models max-min ant system (MMAS) and modified Pareto-based ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm are employed to solve single objective optimization (SOO) and multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem respectively. In the evaluation and selection stage, the intuitionistic fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to evaluate and select the best layout plan among the generated layout alternatives from the design stage. The performance of the proposed decision-making system, which was verified by a residential building project, shall assist the practitioners in the construction industry to deliver construction projects in a more efficient and effective manner, and thus construction costs could be reduced significantly.     

Laboratory Evaluation of Real-Time Dynamic Traffic Assignment Systems

The success of Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) depends on the availability and dissemination of timely and accurate estimates of prevailing and emerging traffic conditions, as well as the provision of faithful and coherent pretrip and en-route travel information and advisory to travelers. Real-time Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) systems, envisioned as an ATMS support system that resides in transportation management centers, are being developed to supply these estimates and information. To ensure the deployment potential of such DTA systems in the field, extensive laboratory evaluations are required throughout the development process. This article discusses a software environment that economically supports the development and evaluation of DTA systems. A major simulation component developed under this environment is called a DTA evaluation system (DES). The DES is a virtual representation of a transportation system in which ATMS and ATIS technologies are deployed. It simulates the trip-making and vehicle-driving behaviors of travelers in response to real-time information and advisories from ATIS and ATMS. This article presents (1) major DES modeling capabilities required for developing and evaluating DTA systems, (2) a modular and extensible modeling framework for the DES, and (3) a top-level, object-oriented, and distributed DES design.     

On the Secondness of Architectural Intuition

The paper presents an adaptation of Charles S. Peirce's three logical categories – firstness, secondness, and thirdness, or quality, relation, and representation – in order to locate architectural intuition in relation to scientific intuition. For Peirce, the father of American pragmatism, the goal of science was to discover thirdnesses (laws and transcendental but refutable patterns) in the manifold of sensory experiences. But he reasoned there also had to be an intermediate category of intuition between sensory and conceptual experiences. Architectural intuition is primarily about relations, or in other words, Peircean secondness.